The dawn of the 21st century witnessed a seismic shift in cinematic tastes, largely catalysed by two monumental successes. Peter Jackson’s *The Lord of the Rings* trilogy (2001-2003) demonstrated that high fantasy could be both a critical darling and a global box-office phenomenon, redefining audience expectations for epic world-building and scale. Simultaneously, Ridley Scott’s *Gladiator* (2000) resurrected the hi…More